Subjects: Labor’s housing crisis and Big Australia migration policy; the Prime Minister’s cost of living crisis; Labor’s Nature Positive Bill an attack on the mining and resources sector; Queensland election; NRL finals.
E&OE.
PETER FEGAN:
Joining me on the line is the Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
Opposition Leader, good morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Good morning, Peter.
PETER FEGAN:
It would seem that the Greens and the Labor Party just don’t see eye to eye anymore, for a change. You don’t have to be the bad guy – it seems that the Greens are doing the job for you?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, there’s certainly a civil war going on between the Labor Party and the Greens at the moment. There’s a lot of anger and angst because they’re competing over the same inner-city seats, and this is a problem particularly in New South Wales and Victoria, where you’ve got – in the Prime Minister’s case, in his seat – the threat is from the Greens and he’s got a lot to be angry about and we’re seeing more and more of that. I guess the Prime Minister’s frustrated, he’s under pressure.
I think when you have to look at the fronts the Government’s got open at the moment, I don’t think they’re going to an early election, but I suspect they’re worried that the economy is going to get worse, and if it does, then that will reduce their electoral prospects.
I think in the end, when the Government’s talking about itself, it’s not talking about the people and the issues that are of concern to them. People are worried about how they pay their bills at the moment, and this Government’s policies are just making it harder and harder for families.
PETER FEGAN:
Well, let’s be honest though, Opposition Leader, the Help to Buy Bill was crushed 41 to 19. Now, this is a pre-election promise, so you can understand why Anthony Albanese is so furious that this won’t pass. Greens Leader Adam Bandt says Labor’s housing policy would push up house prices and of course if it would increase rents. It was voted down by the Coalition in the Lower House, so do you agree with the Greens on this one?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, for different reasons we do. I think when you’ve got the Greens forming a judgement, as we have, that this is a bad bill, then you know that Labor’s got it wrong.
The Government hasn’t built many homes. We know that they’re bringing people in in record numbers through the migration programme and houses just aren’t being built. So that’s why we’ve had a housing crisis, it’s why when the Government has their policies in place promising to build houses – but they don’t actually build any – you can understand why people are sceptical about what the Prime Minister says.
We’ve got the example you just spoke about earlier of the CFMEU, where they’ve jacked up housing prices. It’s not just commercial and industrial jobs. Those same tradies are working on people’s homes across suburbs and that has lifted dramatically the price of building in our country.
You can’t get builders, and when you’ve got an 11 year low in building completions, as we have under this Government at the moment, and you bring in hundreds of thousands of more people each year, well, there is going to be a supply and demand crunch. As we’ve seen, we’ve got people who are homeless, people who can’t find homes to buy or rent, young people who can’t find a first home for love nor money. The Government, I think, is completely on the wrong track on this issue, yet again.
PETER FEGAN:
And not even to mention, Opposition Leader, you’ve got, what, one in 34 people here at the moment are overseas students? If the trend continues, we’re looking at one in 28 people being overseas students – something like three or 4 per cent of the population. I mean, that in itself is driving up prices. That’s another thing that we, I mean, we haven’t really touched on this morning.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, I just don’t think there’s been any planning, Peter. I mean, this is the problem, if you’re going to have a migration programme, which is the biggest in our country’s history, firstly, the Prime Minister didn’t tell anyone about it before the election. So, it’s come as a complete surprise to everyone, including local governments and state governments, who have responsibility for planning laws. Then we’ve got a situation where the Prime Minister promises that the migrant arrivals will come down, but they continue to go up each quarter.
Again, I just think on top of the energy policy that the Government’s got, which is inflationary and driving up the cost of everything where electricity’s involved in the manufacturing or production of goods – all of that’s being passed on. This is why people are feeling it in their hip pocket at the moment and the Government doesn’t have any answers. It’s why the Reserve Bank Governor, frankly, is tearing her hair out at the moment because she’s saying to the Prime Minister, stop all of the wasteful spending in the economy because you’re just fuelling inflation and that’s why interest rates are staying on for longer. Interest rates in our country should have already come down by now. They have in Canada, in New Zealand, and in the UK – but they haven’t come down here.
PETER FEGAN:
Well, let’s call it as it is. You’ve got Adam Bandt and Max Chandler-Mather, they’re playing the roles of the agitators. You’ve got the Prime Minister playing the role of the angry principal and his children are playing up. The cold, hard facts are though, Opposition Leader, while the politicians bicker in Parliament right now, young Australians can’t afford to get into the housing market. We need some sense here. So, will it be you, Opposition Leader, that offers the peace pipe? Will it be you that stands up and shows some leadership and tries to reach out to everybody and say, ‘look, we need a sensible approach here’, because it’s Australians that are copping it?
PETER DUTTON:
Well, Peter, we’ve done that.
I always say, don’t look at what the Prime Minister says, look at what he does, and similarly for the Coalition – that’s a fair test to run against any of us who are making public claims. But in the last term of the Coalition Government, our housing policy supported something like just over 300,000 Australians with the purchase of a home. In fact, since January of 2020, the Coalition policy on housing supported about 60,000 first home buyers and single parent families into home ownership through the Home Guarantee Scheme. That’s about the only programme that’s working. The Prime Minister in Opposition voted against that, but smartly, he’s kept it in place.
They need to have a sensible approach instead of trying to please constantly the Greens voters in inner-city seats. When you look at their policy on energy, when you look at the policy on Gaza, look at their policy on migration, look at their economic policies – now, it’s all about one thing, and that is; ‘how do we stop votes going from the Labor Party to vote Green in the next election?’. But the people who are missing out are people in the suburbs and in regional areas, and it’s compounded by the fact, of course, that we’ve got a hopeless State Government here in Queensland.
PETER FEGAN:
Looking from a voter’s perspective, I see a great opportunity here for somebody to stand up and show some leadership, because if you think about it, you look at the last election, right? And at the last election it was the biggest indicator that most of the – well, the people here in Australia, are turning their backs on the bigger parties. The Australian people head to the polls early, they may not be so forgiving. So, isn’t right now, Peter Dutton, the perfect opportunity to show that leadership, to be the bigger person and put Australian people over the politics? Because into the future, it’s going to be you that’s going to need the Senate if you do become Prime Minister, because you’ve got a huge nuclear bill that needs to pass.
PETER DUTTON:
Well Pete, we are supporting good policies, but we’re opposing bad policies, and what the Government’s putting forward in their housing bill is not going to work. That’s the assessment as we just discussed, not just of the Coalition but of the Greens as well.
The Government is bloody-minded about it. They won’t put in place changes, and you talked before about the Nature Positive Bill, which is sort of Orwellian named because it’s not anything to do with nature, it’s all to do with, ‘how can we stop mining?’. Again, because of the fanaticism that the Prime Minister has in trying to please inner-city Green voters.
The Nature Positive Bill was designed to make it much harder for mining approvals to be put in place. We’ve already got the highest environmental standards in the world. It’s harder to do business in Australia today than almost anywhere else in the world, which is why the Japanese, the Koreans, for the first time are talking about taking business away from Australia. When you speak to the mining companies, they’ve got capital that they can deploy here or in Africa or in North America, they’re taking money out of the Australian market at the moment and they see it as too risky to invest here under this Government. It’s costing us thousands of jobs. We know that the mining industry paid more tax collectively through the royalties and company tax of all the other sectors…
PETER FEGAN:
Particularly here in Queensland.
PETER DUTTON:
…well, yeah, here in Queensland and WA. That’s the reality. I just think we have to be careful. Our country has a lot of debt after Covid, the Prime Minister talks about us living in the most precarious period since the 1930s, so there’s a lot to invest into Defence, we’ve got huge demands on aged care, health, welfare. People don’t want to pay more taxes, understandably, and nor should they, particularly if it’s not being spent wisely.
So, I just think the Government at the moment has the wrong priorities, for the wrong reasons, and average Australians are the ones who are really copping it. The Prime Minister makes a big virtue of increasing wages by $10 a week, but at the same time, out of your other pocket, you’re paying $100 to the ANZ or to Commonwealth Bank for your mortgage payments because interest rates have gone up.
PETER FEGAN:
Let’s move it close to Queensland now. The Queensland election, what are we, 38 days – I think it is – away now? David Crisafulli over the next few weeks, he’ll be obviously on the campaign trail. Will we see you side by side with David Crisafulli? And the reason I ask it, Opposition Leader, is your big pledge in Australia on nuclear is a policy that he’s not backing, are you guys still mates?
PETER DUTTON:
Very much so. I was just texting David yesterday actually, about a couple of issues, but I’ll definitely be out campaigning with him. Obviously for our state, I just want to see good government again. I think the situation under Steven Miles just deteriorates every day, and there are some big decisions that need to be made, not just around the Olympics, but around how we can get the housing picture right, because responsibility for that does fall under state planning laws, so the Commonwealth has to work effectively with the states and local councils – that’s not happening at the moment. We need to make sure that we can get the infrastructure that we need, not just in the south-east corner, but right across regional Queensland as well.
I just think David’s got the imagination, he’s got the intellect, he’s got the energy and the drive to be a great Premier of this state and I think there’ll be a lot of Queenslanders relieved if we can have a change of government in a month’s time.
PETER FEGAN:
Before I let you go, I always like to check in on this one, Opposition Leader. I’ve got Luke Bradnam, he’s filling in on Breakfast here and he’s walking around in a Dolphins jersey spruiking how good the Dolphins are. They’ve finished greater than the Broncos this year. I’m copping it from everybody that we’ve had such a disastrous season. I know that you are a staunch Bronco supporter. Are we still on the Broncos train?
PETER DUTTON:
I was out for a walk this morning and I want to say that I was very proudly wearing my Broncos shirt…
PETER FEGAN:
Fantastic!
PETER DUTTON:
…and no one gave me any stick, the AFP looked at me a bit strangely, but there’s always next season…
PETER FEGAN:
Yeah, exactly.
PETER DUTTON:
…anyway, we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks.
PETER FEGAN:
Yeah, see what happens over the next couple of weeks. Cowboys are certainly representing us.
Hey, well done, Peter Dutton. Thanks for your time this morning. Really appreciate it.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you, mate. Take care.
[ends]